The Houston Texans (5-4) are hosting the Tennessee Titans (3-6) for Monday Night Football.  The Texans need to be ready for a solid football team, as the Titans have turned their team around ever since Vince Young became the quarterback.  They have won three straight games and have been led by running back Chris Johnson.  Johnson is averaging 165 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Titans past three games and has been very hard to bring down.  The Texans need to shut him down and they will shut down the Titans.  That is a tough task though, as Vince Young can also take off and run with the ball.  He does a good job not turning the ball over either, with just one interception.

The Texans offense should be able to get a lot of yards through the air.  The Titans give up 270 passing yards per game and Matt Schaub has been leading the Texans’ offense to 280 passing yards per game.  Schaub has been having problems turning the ball over lately though, as he has 4 interceptions in the Texans’ past 2 games.  The Titans are going to try and keep the ball out of Schaubs’ hands as long as possible though, so if they can’t stop the Titans running game Schaub may not have enough opportunities, so I am taking the Titans in a close game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Tennessee Titans 34, Houston Texans 28

The Houston Texans have won three games in a row and they will be looking to keep that streak going against a Indianapolis Colts team that is 7-0.  The Texans will likely try to run the ball a little more than usual against the Colts who are allowing 112.0 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  Ryan Moats should get the start over Steve Slaton based on how well he played last week against the Bills.  Without Owen Daniels the Texans will rely on WRs Kevin Walter and David Anderson to catch the short stuff.  The Colts will be without a doubt be doubling Andre Johnson all day long on Sunday.  That might not matter however if Matt Schaub has time to throw the football.  That will only happen if the Texans’ O-Line can hold out DEs Dwight Freeney (8 sacks) and Robert Mathis (6 sacks) and that won’t be easy.

The Colts won’t stray from the usual plan as they will rely on Peyton Manning’s right arm to win this game.  DE Mario Williams will have to get pressure on Manning or he will slice and dice the Texans’ secondary.  The Texans will have problems slowing down Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Dallas Clark in this game.  The Texans also don’t stop the run too well allowing 113.3 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry.  Joseph Addai could have a big game here if the Colts get the lead and then decide to grind out a win on the ground. 

PREDICTION:  COLTS 38, TEXANS 20

The Houston Texans are coming into Buffalo as a fine tuned machine on offense.  If it is indeed windy in Buffalo then the Texans will keep the passing game to the short stuff and run the ball with Steve Slaton.  Slaton is not having a good season but the Bills’ D has given up 172.4 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry so he should have his best game of the year.  With Andre Johnson gimpy for this game if he plays, look for Matt Schaub to focus on getting the football to Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter and Steve Slaton out of the backfield.  Schaub had better be careful though as the Bills have 13 interceptions already this season.

The Bills will likely come out running the ball with Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in an attempt to hog the football.  The Texans are allowing 115.6 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry so the Bills should have some success on the ground.  While Ryan Fitzpatrick has been getting the ball to Lee Evans he is far from perfect hitting only 44.7% of his passes this season.  If it is windy in Buffalo I just don’t see the Bills putting the ball up much as Fitzgerald’s arm is very weak.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 20, BILLS 17

The Houston Texans (3-3) are at home Sunday taking on the San Francisco 49ers (3-2).  The 49ers are coming off a big 45-10 loss to Atlanta, and have lost two of their last three.  They have been without their star running back Frank Gore though, and he will be returning from an ankle injury this week.  The last time Gore was healthy he ran for 207 yards, so the Texans defense will need to be ready to stop the run like they were last week.  They did a great job limiting the NFL’s leading rusher at the time, Cedric Benson.  Benson only got 44 yards on 16 carries (2.75 avg).  The Texans are still giving up an average of 125 rushing yards per game, so Frank Gore may do some damage in this contest.  They also need to be aware of Shaun Hill scrambling since the 49ers’ quarterback rushed for 53 yards last week.

The Texans offense should be able to put some points on the board against this 49ers’ defense.  After a great start to the season, the 49ers defense has slowed down a bit and are prone to giving up some big plays.  Matt Schaub should look to attack them deep since he has found a lot of success doing that lately.  Running back Steve Slaton needs to make sure he holds on to the ball.  He could be considered a good running back if were not for all his fumbles.  He has five already this season and eight in his short two year career.  The Texans coaching staff said stopping Slaton’s fumbles have been a point of emphasis in practice this week, so we will see if it pays off.  I really like the Texans’ passing game and although this will probably be a close game, I think the Texans will win by a touchdown.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Houston Texans 31, San Francisco 49ers 24

This should be a interesting football game on Sunday afternoon.  During even numbered weeks this season the Texans are 2-0 outscoring teams 60-37 while the Bengals have won four games in a row.  The Texans will likely pass first in this game as they are getting very frustrated with the running game.  That means it will be up to Matt Schaub and his receivers to move the ball against the Bengals’ D.  If Schaub has time to throw the ball he will be really effective and that means the O-Line will have to slow down DE Antwan Odom who has 8 sacks this season.  The Bengals are allowing 222.8 yards passing per game this season so they are vulnerable to the passing game.  WRs Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter will stretch the field to give TE Owen Daniels the opportunity to get a lot of room to run the short stuff.  If the Texans get the lead in this game then they will likely get RB Steve Slaton involved in the game to attempt to protect their own defense which is not too good.

The Bengals will come out of the locker room handing the ball to Cedric Benson early and often.  He has 487 yards rushing (4.4 ypc) so far this season and the Texans are allowing 140.8 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  Riding Benson helps the Bengals out two fold as it keeps the clock going and it keeps Texans’ QB Matt Schaub on the bench.  WRs Chad Ocho Cinco and Andre Caldwell will run the short stuff in this game but look out for Chris Henry deep on play action.  Carson Palmer is a closer playing his best ball in the 4th quarter and this game will likely come right down to the end before a winner is crowned.  The Texans give up 222.2 yards passing per game this season so look for Palmer to pull this game out late.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 30, TEXANS 27